Nemanja Matić

Nemanja Matić

Personal information
Full name	Nemanja Matić
Date of birth	1 August 1988 (1988-08-01) (age 23)
Place of birth	Vrelo, near Ub, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Centre midfielder
Club information
Current club	Benfica
Number	21
Youth career
2000-2004	Red Star Belgrade
2004	Partizan Belgrade
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2007	Kolubara	16	(0)
2007–2009	Košice	67	(4)
2009–2011	Chelsea	2	(0)
2010–2011	→ Vitesse (loan)	27	(2)
2011–	Benfica	6	(0)
National team‡
2008–2010	Serbia U21	11	(2)
2008–	Serbia	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:15, 30 October 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 February 2010

Nemanja Matić (Serbian Cyrillic: Немања Матић; Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [nɛmaɲa matitɕ]; born 1 August 1988) is a Serbian footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Benfica. He also has 2 caps for the Serbian national side.

Career

At the age of 16 in 2004, Matić was called up for Serbian side FK Kolubara full squad. Matić played three season there amassing 16 appearances. After impressing in the Serbian League Belgrade (3rd tier) he was bought by Slovakian club MFK Košice of the Corgoň Liga. He impressed during his time in Slovakia making 67 Corgoň Liga appearances and scoring 4 goals; helping them gain 4th spot in the league during the 2008–09 campaign. He also impressed in the Slovak Cup helping his team defeat FC Artmedia Petržalka in the cup final at NTC Stadion in Senec. Košice won the game 3–1 and gained a berth in the first edition of the UEFA Europa League.

Nemanja has dual-nationality. He holds Serbian citizenship by birthright, and he later obtained Slovak status. After having a trial early in the 2008–2009 Premiership season, it was believed Middlesbrough F.C. were leading the pack to sign the young Serbian star, but the trial was cut short as he was called up for Serbia's full squad for a friendly against Denmark. In the summer months there was much speculation in England that Matić might return to the Premier League with a hosts of clubs after him including Tottenham and Chelsea.

Chelsea

On 18 August 2009, Matić signed for Chelsea for a fee of around £1.5 million in a four year contract.^[1][2] He was given the number 24 shirt by Chelsea but wasn't able to make his debut immediately due to the injury he picked up at the recent U21 championships. He was on the bench for Chelsea's Carling Cup tie against Queens Park Rangers on 23 September 2009 but did not take any part in the 1–0 victory. Matic made his Premier League debut for Chelsea on 21 November 2009 coming on for Florent Malouda on 69th minute in the 4–0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.^[3] His second appearance came as a sub against Wigan on the final day of the 09–10 season, where Chelsea won 8–0 to regain the Premier League title.

Vitesse

On 23 August 2010, Matić transferred together with his Chelsea teammates Slobodan Rajković and Matej Delač to Dutch Eredivisie club Vitesse on a 1-year loan.^[4]

International

Advice about him gave Serbian coach Vermezović who trained Spartak Trnava in 2008–09 season. Nemanja was an unknown player in Serbia until then. Matić's debut for the national team of Serbia U-21 came in a match against Denmark U-21 on October 11, 2008.^[5] After three matches and two goals for the Serbia under-21 squad, he was called up to the Serbia first team and he made his debut in a friendly against Poland^[6] at December 14, 2008.

Matić took part in 2009 EURO U-21 Championship where he played 85 minutes in the first group match against Italy (0:0). Matić was injured after contact with Italian Giovinco. He broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot and he had to undergo surgery.^[7]

Career statistics

As of 2 November 2011

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Slovakia			League		Slovak Cup		Europe		Total
2006-07	MFK Košice	Corgoň Liga	13	1	0	0	0	0	13	1
2007-08			25	1	2	0	0	0	27	1
2008-09			28	2	6	0	0	0	34	2
England			League		FA Cup		Europe		Total
2009-10	Chelsea	Premier League	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
Netherlands			League		KNVB Cup		Europe		Total
2010-11	Vitesse (loan)	Eredivisie	27	2	2	0	0	0	29	2
Portugal			League		Taça de Portugal		Europe		Total
2011-12	Benfica	Primeira Liga	6	0	0	0	5	0	11	0
			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Total	Slovakia		66	4	8	0	0	0	74	4
	England		2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
	Netherlands		27	2	2	0	0	0	29	2
	Portugal		6	0	0	0	5	0	11	0
Career total			101	5	11	0	5	0	117	6

Honours

Club

• Košice
  • Slovak Cup (1): 2008-09

• Chelsea
  • FA Cup (1): 2009-10

References

1. ^ Matic zu Chelsea
2. ^ "Chelsea confirm signing of Matic". BBC Sport. 2009-08-18. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/8206912.stm. Retrieved 2009-08-18. 
3. ^ Lyon, Sam (2009-11-21). "Chelsea 4–0 Wolves". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/8365169.stm. Retrieved 2009-11-21. 
4. ^ "Vitesse huurt drietal van Chelsea". nos.nl. 2010-08-23. http://nos.nl/artikel/180339-vitesse-huurt-drietal-van-chelsea.html. 
5. ^ "UEFA stats for Denmark U21 vs. Serbia U21 game". http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under21/fixturesresults/round=15085/match=304060/report=lu.html. 
6. ^ "Matić debutoval v srbskom drese" (in Slovak). profutbal. 2008-12-14. http://www.profutbal.sk/clanok67269.htm. 
7. ^ "Broken bone robs Serbia of Matić". UEFA. 2009-06-17. http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under21/news/kind=1/newsid=838973.html. Retrieved 6 July 2009. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Profile on Serbian national football team website
• Profile on the Official Chelsea Football Club website
• Nemanja Matić at National-Football-Teams.com

Persondata
Name	Matic, Nemanja
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1 August 1988
Place of birth	Šabac, SFR Yugoslavia
Date of death
Place of death